New Jersey’s Charity Care Hospital system is wasting “tens of millions of dollars” in part by providing care to state residents who fraudulently claim they have low incomes and are uninsured to obtain no-cost health care, according to a New Jersey State Commission of Investigation report released on Wednesday, the [click link for full article]

Congress should revise Medicare reimbursements for the anemia medication Epogen, manufactured by Amgen, to eliminate financial incentives for dialysis centers to administer excessive doses of the treatment to kidney disease patients, House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif. [click link for full article]

The decline in breast cancer incidence observed from 2002 to 2003 continued in 2004, supporting the hypothesis that the decline is tied to a decrease in use of hormone replacement therapy among postmenopausal women, according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, USA Today reports (Rubin, USA Today, 4/19). [click link for full article]

Despite the fact that they both infect the liver, the hepatitis A and hepatitis C viruses actually have very little in common. The two are far apart genetically, are transmitted differently, and produce very different diseases. Hepatitis A spreads through the consumption of fecal particles from an infected person (in pollution-contaminated food or water, for example), but hepatitis C is generally transmitted only by direct contact with infected blood. [click link for full article]

The Georgia Senate on Tuesday voted 32-21 to approve legislation that would restructure PeachCare, the state’s SCHIP, the Savannah Morning News reports. The Senate version of the legislation would allow children in families with annual incomes up to 125% of the federal poverty level to enroll in Medicaid. [click link for full article]

The U.S. could save $20 billion annually if Congress passes legislation (S 3) that would permit the federal government to directly negotiate prices for the Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to a report released Tuesday by the Institute for America’s Future, the [click link for full article]

Ever wonder which antihistamine is best to treat hay fever? Are you confused by the numerous television commercials and magazine ads touting antihistamines for the treatment of allergies? If so,…

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have identified an important gene involved in the spread of breast cancer that has developed resistance to long-term estrogen deprivation. The discovery was reported in an oral presentation during the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Los Angeles. [click link for full article]

In a study of 4,000 pregnant women, researchers found that almost 1 in 5 overweight women had to undergo an emergency Caesarean Section birth because the muscles in their uterus failed. The research suggests obesity impairs the ability of the uterus to contract sufficiently in order to dilate the cervix and deliver the baby.The team from the University of Liverpool’s Physiology department found that obese women were 3. [click link for full article]

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Friday is scheduled to start a multistate campaign to promote Medicare beneficiaries’ use of preventive care, AP/Long Island Newsday reports. Leavitt will visit Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut during the first week of the campaign. [click link for full article]